Obviously, it's not your song. That said, the guy "talking at you" is not going to be talking like this, and the lyrics are always a huge part of it for me with Destroyer. But I like what he does with the music, moving from the banal "nova-scapes" to suddenly taking off into the second half of the song, really letting the guitar and drumbeats create a groove and then letting it all fade out again. I find it a blast, but whatever. Anyone who liked "Shooting Rockets" or any other Bejar long songs (and I like this better than "Rockets") should definitely look into it. The vinyl has sadly sold out (they really need to reissue that - it's an ominous cover), but the mp3 is cheap at the Merge site.

So the new Destoyer disc arrived at my house yesterday and this, of course, brought on much celebrating, particularly as the wonderful folks at Merge packaged it with a poster and "Kaputt" button. Very cool.

Speaking of "cool", anyone who's heard "Chinatown" or seen the video of the title track by now has an idea of what to expect, but still...oh boy. Bejar really can't just go with the crowd, can he? But he does this "Avalon" sort of music well, in fact brilliantly at times, better than I've heard it in some times. Once I got through the shock of the initial listen and went back to Miles Davis' "Porgy and Bess" and old Bryan Ferry I got it. For sure, it's an easier listen than "Your Blues" was at first, and by now we're used to Bejar throwing out the model and trying something new. But here's the newest thing about it:

On "This Night" and "Your Blues" (both of which I like very much, see my little review form on the previous page to this topic) Bejar seemed a bit all over the place, letting the chaos of his situation control where the music was going. What he does here is immaculately directed, every piece exactly in its right place, exactly the opposite of chaos. And he knows what you're thinking: at the point of "Kaputt" that you think "he's just re-doing cocaine rock" he drops in the line "chasing cocaine through the backwoods of the night." At the moment in "Savage Night at the Opera" when you're thinking, "damn it, I hate these programmed drums" he drops in the line "I heard your record, it's alright."

So yes, it's all that intentional, and yet it's something unique. This is still, ultimately, DESTROYER, though an opposite animal of anything I would've expected. He seemed to be heading towards the ambient techno thing with the vinyl eps, yet that winds up being just another road; the version of "Bay of Pigs" here is not the same. Somehow, I imagine this is where he is for now, that another two or three years and he'll have a new path to go down. Meanwhile, his voice is perfectly tuned to the music and if you let yourself go with this you just might like it. Having also heard the new Iron and Wine recently (no, I didn't care for it, not at all) I can say that this is NOT like that. There's nothing here that any college chart is going to be searching for. It is what it is and it deserves to be heard. The lyrics are great (if not as outwardly sarcastic) and I can even handle the sax after two listens. To say the least, I'm curious as to what anyone else thinks.

What he does here is immaculately directed, every piece exactly in its right place, exactly the opposite of chaos.

Well, I don't know, maybe my favorite thing about the album is how the songs aren't rigidly composed, per se, and sort of just float where they will. Whereas there are scheduled moments of triumph, though wild, on both Your Blues and This Night. It's a placid sort of chaos, I think.

Meanwhile I love programmed drums and Avalon and Boz Scaggs and '80s Miles Davis and Prefab Sprout and smooth saxophone so I am predisposed toward the synthetic dream. Kaputt will probably be my favorite record of the year.

Meanwhile I love programmed drums and Avalon and Boz Scaggs and '80s Miles Davis and Prefab Sprout and smooth saxophone so I am predisposed toward the synthetic dream. Kaputt will probably be my favorite record of the year.[/quote]

That could be a real possibility. I love "Avalon" and nearly all of Roxy Music (save a few clunkers on "Manifesto" and "Flesh and Blood"), though at the end of the day I'll stand most by "For Your Pleasure". I'm glad you mentioned Prefab Sprout. I had a CD of "Two Wheels Good" that I played into the ground in the late 80s, just loved that thing. Still, most of what I listened to in the 80s was screaming at just this sort of music, and I've always stopped my Miles Davis collection in 1975, simply not being able to face "smooth jazz" as anything but the enemy, then or now.

But time changes things and anyone who loves music has to be open to possibilities; having just listened to the album again, even the drums are growing on me. I suppose it's all a reminder that when done well, any music can be awesome. This is Katy Lied as opposed to Kenny G, perhaps. Also, Bejar is super smart about the vocals, never letting them crescendo into that obnoxious space that so much 80s keyboard music could go.

Placid chaos. Yes, I like that. I think you may be on to something there.

I got the album + assorted goodies from Merge yesterday in the mail as well! I've only had time for one fairly inattentive listen, but that one bode well - definitely got some Roxy Music vibes from it too.

I got the album + assorted goodies from Merge yesterday in the mail as well!

Just my two cents on ordering from Merge: I've ordered from some labels (hello Matador) in the past where the album arrived weeks late. I've now pre-ordered three albums from Merge and they always take care of their stuff. The vinyl orders are always well taken care of with downloads intact and the goodies were a nice surprise with the Destroyer. I've decided to order directly from them for all artists that I like on their label. This just reinforces to me why they're one of the best, if not the best, American small label currently (though how small can you be with Arcade Fire? But if it pays the bills then more power to them).

I might also add that I ordered Wire's terrific new album direct from Pink Flag and received not only the record but a cool CD of four extra songs called Strays for nothing extra. great stuff! I think when labels earn your business like this it's cool to support them, and in the case of Wire (and Young God, where I ordered the last Swans record) all of the $ goes straight to the artist!

I got the album + assorted goodies from Merge yesterday in the mail as well!

Just my two cents on ordering from Merge: I've ordered from some labels (hello Matador) in the past where the album arrived weeks late. I've now pre-ordered three albums from Merge and they always take care of their stuff. The vinyl orders are always well taken care of with downloads intact and the goodies were a nice surprise with the Destroyer. I've decided to order directly from them for all artists that I like on their label.

That's always been my experience as well - the pre-orders have systematically arrived before (sometimes well before) the release date even though I live overseas, so they also get major thumbs-up from me.